College is said to be one of the most educational experiences in your life. I have found that most of the learning happens outside the class whether it be time management, basic house skills, or just living away from home. Here are a few things I have already learned just from my first semester of college.

1. You actually have to study.

In high school, I could get away with not studying and easily make a B. I graduated with a 3.5 GPA without almost never opening a textbook. I went into my first college exam with this same attitude. Newsflash: If you don't study, you fail. And you cannot just study for five minutes. It's more like five hours.

2. Nobody is there to make you do anything.

You don't want to get out of bed? You don't have too. You feel like staying out all night on a Tuesday? You can. However, part of it is learning to make decisions not based on what you can do but on what you should do.

3. Don't already love microwave food? You will learn too.

Growing up I would come home and my mom would have a home cooked meal waiting for us. It would be chicken casserole or pasta or basically whatever we asked her to make. I missed this dearly when I would go through my apartment kitchen only to find frozen pizza, Kraft mac & cheese, and ramen noodles.

4. Freshman year you still take the same non-sense classes you did in high school.

I have been a mass communication major ever since I applied to GCSU. What classes did they throw me in my first semester? Geology and Music & Civilization. What am I taking next semester? Computer Science and Anthropology. To be completely honest I'm still not totally sure what anthropology even is but I have seen enough seasons of Bones on Netflix so I guess I'll figure it out.

5. How to plunge a toilet.

When you receive the move-in check list after you decide on a school it gives you the do's and do not's of what to bring. It also states something like "parents make sure your student knows to use an oven, work a washing machine/dryer, etc.". I read that and laughehed. I thought "oh please who doesn't know how to do those basic things?". Well I laughed a little too early. In the middle of the semester the opportunity presented itself for me to use a plunger. I had never used one before. I didn't want to mess it up and I was the only one home so I had to call my mom so she could walk me through it. Long story short it was disgusting and I hope to never have to use one again.